Parti Quebecois Leader Pauline Marois is whisked off stage as she delivered her victory speech in Quebec on Tuesday.

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"There has been a collective scratching of the head because this doesn't make sense, this is surreal, this doesn't happen here," said Bruce Hicks, political scientist at Montreal's Concordia University.

"You just don't hear about this kind of gun violence in Canada," said Thomas Darcy Williams, a student at McGill University. "I was shocked, really surprised."

A victory speech by Quebec Premier-elect Pauline Marois ended abruptly Tuesday night when a gunman in a bathrobe opened fire just outside a hall packed with supporters of Parti Quebecois.

The shooter was identified by police as Richard Henry Bain, 61, of La Conception, Quebec, according to LeJournal de Montreal.

Bain is accused of killing one man and wounding a second as he allegedly attempted to set fire to the Metropolis theater on busy Ste. Catherine Street.

Parti Quebecois favors separation from Canada for the French-speaking province of Quebec. Bain was captured on a news camera yelling, "The Anglophones are rising," as he was apprehended by Montreal police. He is the owner of a hunting lodge near the popular ski resort of Mont-Tremblant.

Police said the shooter was armed with a rifle and entered through the theater's back door and fired on two men inside. A freelance technician in his 40s was killed.

Lt. Guy Lapointe of the Quebec Provincial Police said investigators questioning the suspect had been unable to establish his motive.

"A lot of things were said by this individual after they arrested him, in French and English," Lapointe said.

The shooting came after a heated campaign in which Marois promised to make it harder for French-speaking Canadians to attend Quebec's English colleges. Some in the party demand a referendum be held to vote on leaving Canada.

Parti Quebecois won Tuesday's provincial election but failed to win a majority of legislative seats, meaning it will need to work with other parties to pass legislation.

Marois, whose security detail from the Quebec provincial police pulled her offstage as she spoke, said her thoughts were with the family of the victim.

"All Quebecois are mourning today before such a gratuitous act of violence," she said. "Never will a society such as ours let violence dictate its collective choices."

Outgoing Premier Jean Charest, whose Liberal Party was swept from power Tuesday, said he was saddened by the shooting.

"It's a shock. Who would have thought something like this could happen?" said Charest, who ruled for nine years.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he was "angered and saddened" by the shooting.

"It is a tragic day where an exercise of democracy is met with an act of violence," he said.

Political assassinations are rare in Canada. Pierre Laporte, a Quebec Labor minister, was killed in 1970 during a crisis between a separatist terrorist group and the government. The killing led to martial law being declared.

"I'm afraid that this will bring about the end of an age of innocence," said Charles Vejgman, a bilingual Montrealer. "This opens the door for ruthless, radical, unbalanced views."

Contributing: The Associated Press

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